ZOME Energy Networks, Inc.was selected as a Top 10, Best in Class vendor because of its advanced Distributed Energy Resource Optimization software and the team behind their solution. The company offers a wide-scale, device-independent, platform solution that includes cloud software, algorithms, and API’s enabling control, simulations, and analytics to improve electric utility and building-wide energy management programs.

ZOME’s platform is built on AWS, designed as a “microservice” architecture, and supports IoT and other energy-consuming devices. ZOME, and its intellectual property of ColorPower Algorithms, automates the management and optimization (including helping third-party DERMS — Distributed Energy Resources Management System– players). The modular architecture is provided as a Platform-as-a-Service (PaaS) basis, to be white-labeled for utilities, aggregators, or other partners.

Meanwhile, ZOME’s HVAC Analytics allows for analytics-based optimization of currently running DR programs based on connected thermostats. This predictive capability—what is the energy load behind that thermostat?—allows utilities or their DERMS vendors to notably improve the accuracy of these HVAC demand side management programs, and can make this aggregate energy load dispatchable and more viable for core utility operations.

The company’s underlying ColorPower algorithms incorporate the management of the full suite of Distributed Energy Resources (DERs), including Energy Efficiency (EE), Demand Response (DR), Distributed Generation (DG), Distributed Storage (DS) and Vehicle to Grid (V2G). The company provides a holistic approach to ‘supply-demand optimization,’ while meeting the needs of energy providers, endconsumers of energy services, and regulators.

It’s not just the products, but also the team at ZOME that makes this company noteworthy:

Dr. Alex Papalexopoulos is the CEO and Chairman of ZOME Energy Networks. Dr. Papalexopoulos is also the Founder of ECCO, one of the top energy market designers in the world. ZOME is his product company, ECCO his consulting company. He is also an IEEE Fellow, and has codeveloped much of the ISO market system in the USA, and has designed energy markets on four continents. It’s not an exaggeration to say he is a living legend in the energy sector.

Brad Kayton is the Co-founder and COO. Mr. Kayton co-founded what was at the time the largest broadband equipment company for North America (2Wire), and a leading home and energy automation vendor (4Home) which was acquired by Motorola and then Google. Mr. Kayton has 10 patents to his name, all in the areas of networking and energy management and he is on the board of a few leading IoT related companies.

Igor Chernyy is the CTO, with a background of having worked at both Amazon.com and Microsoft developing cloud products, he is in charge of ZOME’s cloud architecture and development. Eric Smith is the SVP of Sales & BusDev, and he has over 30 years working in the energy sector, most recently as Managing Director of Navigant Consulting.

ColorPower for MDUs allows building owners to enjoy energy savings and even revenue generation from their buildings in certain areas by coordinating the energy usage with the rest of the Energy Grid, helping the Grid in times of need and getting paid for it. Consumers living in the apartment units can share in the savings or revenue generation and take pride in being “green,” all the while maintaining control by being able to opt out at any time.

ColorPower for Neighborhoods provides energy management and optimization for electric utilities and its customers living in primarily single-family home neighborhoods. ColorPower for Neighborhoods enables electric utilities to optimize Demand Response (DR) and other demand side management (DSM) programs in operation as well as new rollouts, including the wider objectives of Distributed Energy Resource applications. Consumers are motivated to enroll in ColorPowerenabled programs to save money on energy use, to earn credits to their monthly energy bill, earn Tokens, or receive checks in the mail for their flexible energy contribution.

ZOME Analytics is a set of cloudbased services that provides a variety of analytics, machine learning, and predictive modules for energy use and management. Companies can tap into ZOME Analytics to better estimate energy loads. APIs allow either DERMS vendors or utilities directly to improve the accuracy in their currently running or planned Distributed Energy Resource program.

Electric Utility benefit: The more responsive the energy grid can be, the better the economics, resource loading, and environmental impact. It is important to understand the value proposition underlying ColorPower. It algorithmically balances energy needs (demand) with energy distribution (supply) to the point of allowing demand needs and preferences to openly trigger energy supply, which in turn would optimize the market price at the LMP, and in the process optimizing the cost and sustainability of energy. It also provides benefits to apartment building owners with demand charge savings, Demand Response (DR) payments, energy usage, time of day automated savings, and overall load balancing of the building(s).

ZOME’s ColorPower DER optimization platform is uniquely designed in that one part of it is for energy management simulations, while another part is the control loop, both are integrated together, and the Precision Program Iterative Rollout methodology it facilitates is patent protected. Algorithms are the key differentiator for ZOME, and their cloud-API architecture enables broad support for equipment monitoring and control. ZOME’s methodology enables much more precision, and as such can be used for advanced energy ancillary services.

Eye on Expansion

The platform is being extended to tiein EVs, roof-top solar, battery storage, and other DERs. The goal at the highest level is to optimize DERs from the demand-side and match as closely as possible to the up and down output of most renewable energy sources. ZOME envisions providing the services beyond North America, with Europe and Canada being the first geographic expansion regions for the company.

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